Re: slash vs backslash

From: Joona I Palaste (palaste_at_cc.helsinki.fi)
Date: 07/07/04 

Date: 7 Jul 2004 16:13:38 GMT

Flip <[remove]phenry_w@hotmail.com> scribbled the following:
> Yup the backslash is the path separator, but it's Windows trying to help you
> out. For example, try swapping the slashes in your URLs in IE, both will
> work. That's Billy Boy trying to help you out. I'm not sure what Netscape
> does. Java is meant to be more straight forward, is a programming language
> not an OS and therefore needs to be more exactly. Also, Java was developed
> by a unix company (SUN, well, ok, a Solaris UNIX company, but it's not MS
> :>) and therefore you'll find a lot of UNIX oriented "things" that are
> ported over to Windows to make them cross platform.

If IE is so "helpful", then it also goes against the HTTP specification.
You can test it by giving a file on a UNIX web server a name containing
a backslash. Then try to request that file from IE. For example, suppose
the name is "foo\bar" on the server "http://mycorp.com". Now try to
request "http://mycorp.com/foo%5Cbar". See if you can get the correct
file.
This could be a fancy way to prevent IE users from viewing content on
UNIX webservers... =) 

-- 
/-- Joona Palaste (palaste@cc.helsinki.fi) ------------- Finland --------\
\-- http://www.helsinki.fi/~palaste --------------------- rules! --------/
"'It can be easily shown that' means 'I saw a proof of this once (which I didn't
understand) which I can no longer remember'."
   - A maths teacher

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